“Clairfield big rock”

A sign that reads “Prepare to meet thy God” is painted on a rock that overlooks the small town of Clairfield, Tennessee, in the Clearfork Valley. Twenty miles long, the Clearfork Valley held a string of little unincorporated towns that Reporter Bill Kovach writes, “had outlived their reason for being there. They were cut off from the outside world by high mountains with dangerous winding roads…When the coal was mined by hand and in large demand, it was a busy prosperous valley with 30,000 people…When coal mining became mechanized, and the shallow coal of the valley was not profitable, the mining companies moved out. Miners of the valley were struck a final blow when the United Mine Workers left the area…They were a valley of forlorn people who got little help from county, or state governments. Almost every family in the valley was on some form of federal aid.”